SMART CAR is the Solution

SMART CAR is the Solution

Gas is $2.00 a gallon for regular and much higher than that in California.
Its going higher, even if the political situation normalizes because for
every gallon of oil pumped out of the ground, there is one less gallon
available forever. Oil is a diminishing resource and has to get more and
more expensive. Fifteen years ago, Scientific American graphed the future
history of oil production and it is proving to be accurate. World oil
production will start its decline in 2025 and by 2050 it will be too
expensive to burn as a fuel.

We will not really run out of oil. It will just get too expensive to burn.
There is oil in oil shale and tar sands, but it is expensive to extract.
Liquid fuel can be synthesized from coal and natural gas, but at even
higher cost. Oil will be used for the forseable future for other
derivitive products such as plastics, drugs and the like.

For us, we might brace ourselves for fuel doubling again in price within
the next five to ten years. I think the best solution is in the direction
of the Smart Car, now sold in England and Europe. I believe the the Smart
Car can be improved enought to import to the States, perhaps with a little
boost from waivers in the laws.

Daimler-Benz says they have no plans to import this car. But conditions
change and the motive may now be sufficient for them to change their
corporate mind and take this car to America.

One problem may be in safety laws, notably crash worthiness. I think this
can be overcome. The Smart Car as now configured is definitely safer than
a motorcycle; yet motorcycles are permited on our roads, but not the Smart
Car because it presumably cannot meet current auto crash tests. What is
needed is Congress to waive the Smart Car specificly from the tests and
create a special class which is midway between a motorcycle and a
conventional car. When the car is sold, the customer will be notified that
the car is substandard in-so-far as the crashworthiness is concerned
compared to conventional cars and he may be asked to sign a waiver that he
understands this condition. A placard should be in the car to notify
unwary passengers that the car is compromised. That will take care of the
legalities and I see no great obstacle if D-C would petition the Government
for this waiver based on the at-your-own-risk activity.

Furthermore, the Smart Car can be improved. As light as it is, it can be
further lightened by use of aluminum to replace some of the steel. This
will further boost its already good economy, particularly with its turbo 3
cylinder diesel. D-C can ill afford to get a poor evaluation of this car,
so they should put an engineering team on the car from bumper to bumper and
incorporate all the suggestions I have made on this newsgroup (get rid of
timing belt, head gasket water holes, etc., etc.).

Watch the news. This fuel cost escalation is going to drive some more
airlines into bankcruptcy. It will finish off some car companies too who
put all their eggs into the SUV basket.

 

That's a pretty stupid idea. The Smart is a joke, even in Europe. It can
barely reach highway speeds, and has a ride quality worse than a schoolbus,
making it unsuitable for long trips, which is something that we do in North
America.

Fuel is far more expensive in Europe than it is here, and they can make do
without all of them driving Smarts. If they improved the quality of diesel
fuel, and starting putting efficient diesel engines in more cars, it might
ease the problem (but we would still rely on dino bones). Many cars sold
here are sold in Europe with diesel, or less powerful engines, for improved
economy. It could pretty much be directly implemented here.

We also need not go as far as the Smart. Smaller cars, in sizes like the
Neon, or even smaller like a Hyundai Accent / Toyota Echo/ Geo Metro, can be
fuel efficient, more practical than a Smart, all without being a total death
trap. All that has to be done is fit them with even more fuel efficient
engines (like diesels).

In Mexico DC sells two cars that are smaller than the Neon. One is the Dodge
Verna, which is a Hyundai Accent. I would say it's rebadged, but all the
photos on the website still show H emblems. They also sell the Dodge Atos,
which looks similar to an Aveo type car. Those two models are much more
marketable than a Smart.

If they did waive safety laws, insurance premiums would kill any benefit.

I would rather take my chances in a shopping cart powered by a Tecumseh
engine.

A really technologically simple solution that also works in Europe is manual
shift transmissions.

 

Another point. The Atos is a Hyundai Santro.

 

Every time I'm driving and the stench of diesel pollution is coming
inside it's because I've been unlucky enough to be behind some
shit-box jetta or golf and I'm pissed because the occupants of said
shit-box don't even get to experience the puke that's coming out of
their exhaust.

Keep diesel cars the hell out of north america. There is NO price
advantage worth driving a manually-shifted stench mobile that pukes
out clouds of stench with each gear change.

 

a) Better fuel will reduce smell and pollution.

b) Better engines prevent black puffs, and reduce pollution.

The problem is that diesel technology in most implementations isn't very
advanced at all. With tighter standards enforces, it can become much more
environmentally friendly.

 

Not in Europe they don't.

Modern diesel engines, modern fuel.

WHY, pray tell me, are diesels so popular even in the UK, where there is no
fuel price advantage?

DAS

 

Which manufacturer puts "all their eggs into the SUV basket"?

DAS

 

Both Ford and GM it would seem.

nate

 

Especially GM.

 

I am a driver of a Chrysler PT Cruiser in the UK. My Cruiser is a 2.2
Litre diesel with manual box. The reason we drive diesels on the UK is that
they get 25% more mpg than petrol models and the government keeps the cost
of fuel high. My diesel is modern and does not smell, clatter or produce
smoke. It has better pulling power than the petrol version making for a more
relaxing drive. The engine will last at least 50% longer than the petrol
version and it is cheaper to service. With biofuels starting to take off
over here, in the future it will be able to run on biodiesel thus not
contributing to global warming.

John Rogers
PT Cruiser driver.

 

My 300M has a 3.5 L gasoline-powered engine with automatic
transmission.

The reason you drive diesels in the UK is BECAUSE the gov't keeps the
cost of fuel high hence forcing consumers to seek out alternatives.

Don't diesel's product more NoX than gas engines?

My automatic transmission and 250 hp engine makes for an even more
relaxing drive.

I've done nothing to my 3.5L V-6 engine in 4.5 years (49k miles / 78k
km's) other than change the oil and clean the air filter every once in
a while. Truth is, in the northern US and most of Canada, road salt
will kill a car before the engine needs major work (unless you drive a
VW).

If you want to be truely "green" or environmentally friendly, best
thing you can do is not have kids. Recycle all you want. Drive a
Smart car or a bicycle. Grow rice in your back yard, etc - You can do
all that and still can't compare your environmental impact to living
well, driving big cars, having a big house, having lots of toys -
_and_ not having kids).

 

But they can be fitted with catalytic converters to lower Nox emissions.
Since car companies won't voluntarily fit them, proper emissions legislation
will get them in there. That's how gasoline engines evolved the way they
have.

In a larger car, and while burning more fuel.

Your car is young. Come back at 350 000+ km.

True. Some areas use less salt than others, because they don't feel it is
essential to keep an absolutely clear road 24/7. Cars age better there.
Other areas don't use salt but use sand either because it is too cold, or
ground water concerns. Unfortunately they pour on the salt here, and I live
next to the ocean. Cars usually do rot out before mechanically dying.

In which case it will start falling apart when you drive it off the lot.

Population control is the solution.

 

Is it really cheaper to service? That certainly isn't typical with
diesels. Most require more frequent oil and filter changes, require a
more expensive oil filter, more expensive fuel filter (with water
trapping capability), etc.


Matt

 

Some diesels are already VERY advanced (Cummins Ram, for example) and
have very low emissions of POLLUTANT chemicals. That's the key- the
diesel stench remains even if the pollutants are controlled.

 

A couple of points:

1) Diesels get better MPG *MOSTLY* because diesel contains more energy
per gallon than gasoline does. The engines are not that much (if any, in
some cases) more efficient at converting chemical energy to mechanical
enrgy than gasoline engines are. Another example of the same effect-
Alcohol fueled engines get half the MPG as the same engine run on
gasoline because alcohol contains half the enrgy of gasoline per gallon.
The engine efficiency is the same.

2) The price of gasoline is ARTIFICALLY inflated in the UK.

Not even close to the same "pulling power" as a PT turbo!

So you really believe that by burning cooking oil your car will produce
NO carbon dioxide, NO carbon monoxide, and NO oxides of nitrogen? Please
tell me you aren't that duped by the biofuel hype. Of course it will
still produce the same amount of CO, CO2, and NOx that it does now, and
those are all contributors to global warming just as much as they are
when they come out the tailpipe of a car burning petroleum-based diesel.

 

While I don't believe any of the "global warming" junk science, bio
diesel does not add any CO or CO2 to the atmosphere. Yes, carbon
compounds exit the tailpipe but they just take the place of all the
CO2 drawn by the plants that provide the oils that make up biodiesel.
And no, diesels do not produce CO, never have.

--

(Jim, single dad to Lesleigh [Autistic] 04/20/94)

"What, Me Worry?" A. E. Newman

Please note: All unsolicited e-mail sent to me may, at
my discretion, be posted in this newsgroup verbatim.

 

It's actually quite the opposite if you've actually driven one.
Small, fun, agile, and with the bigger engine, it has no problem
getting to illegal speeds if you wish. The tiniest engine model
is a joke, though - like the 3cyl Metro vs the 4cyl model.

The big deal, though, is that for the price of an Echo, you
get a car with features and safety that you usually have to
pay $20K for.

 

Thank you. My point exactly.

I don't suppose a diesel PT Cruiser is available in the USA.

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

 

Any CO present in any combustion process arises from incomplete combustion,
does it not?

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

 

With respect to Europe and RoW I beg to differ.

Ford & GM/Vauxhall/Opel sell vast quantities of 'ordinary'
saloons/sedans/estates (wagons in American?)

DAS